# Character Creation Challenge 2024: Day 20 - ERA :: Jacob Sander, Martian Scout (Retired) tags: #thoughts/CharacterCreationChallenge/2024 #game/rpg/era > [!quote] [[Character Creation Challenge 2024]] > > ![[Character Creation Challenge Image.png]] I just keep digging further and further back in my digital stack, looking for games which it is appropriate to use for CCC. Nothing *too* heavy because I don't want to be at this for six hours just trying to pull the levers and push the buttons to make a character fall out, that's no fun for me and probably wouldn't be terribly fun to read about. Nothing too *specific* because a game in which you can only tell one story effectively is just not all that interesting.^[I'm looking at you quite-a-lot-of-journaling-games.] Today we get **[[ERA|ERA: Epic Storytelling Game]]**, a game I wasn't even sure I had in my pockets, released in 2014, and whose last update was so long ago that the first page directs you to join the community on [Google+](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%2B)^[I miss you, G+. Come back! All is forgiven!]. Not a criticism, just an observation. What is it? It's a *very* story-centric RPG which is heavy on the dynamic traits, surprisingly heavy on the structured presentation of narrative turn order, and which comes with two settings out of the box. It promises that you can get through a session, effectively a whole story, in about an hour. Also – zero prep. ![[ERA (cover).jpg]] > **ERA** is designed to deliver classic epic heroic tale where a hero battles against formidable foes and against terrible odds. As a game where one player plays with one Storyteller, think about the tales of Hercules, Perseus, Judge Dredd, Highlander, Conan and countless others. Where two players play with one Storyteller, think of Han Solo and Chewbacca, Elric and Moonglum, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Dr Who and [insert companion of your choice], Batman and Robin - the list goes on and on… > > This version of the game focuses on legendary heroes of a mountainous fantasy wilderness with a distinctly Nordic feel, but your game could take place anywhere or anywhen. As long as your setting has heroes, villains and classic themes to exploit, ERA can tell your stories. I appreciate that the game is up front about all of its design decisions. A full story is seven scenes, no less, no more. Seven scenes should take you about an hour. It's not a game for groups. Hit the ground running. All right, let's hit the ground running! ## Chargen **ERA** characters have three facets: *Elements, Trappings*, and *Lore*. Elements are the stats of the system, effectively, describing inherent virtues or flaws. Trappings are "your stuff," from weapons and armor to anything you are carrying with you and associated with you. Lore are myths and legends and stories that circulate about you. I find that last particularly pleasing as it says you have an entire history that happens before the game, one where you are of very storied individual. That's just fun. All three of those are made up of three things themselves, the *die* that is attached to the facet, the *element* it represents, and a *one line description*. Obviously your Elements are associated with the element that they are. Each scene requires resolution with one die pool roll, and you build that pool specified by the elements which are called on in that scene, one chosen by the storyteller and the other chosen by the active player. I say all that to point out that if you put *all* of your big dice in the same element – sure, you'll be able to do whatever that is good and hard, but it's not going to set you up for a lot of long-term success. Mainly because there are rules about what Elements can be used back to back in neighboring scenes. Right, enough of that. Basic ideas established, let's figure out… ### Concept This is going to be a lot easier if we start out with an idea for our Legend (our character) that gives us some shape and direction. This is not a game where you can put together the pieces and then figure out who they are. You need to figure out who they are and then you can carefully select the pieces. **ERA** can be used for any kind of setting as long as the stories can be focused on one or a pair of protagonists, so I'm going to get a little exciting. How about a relatively hard science fiction setting, where grizzled combat veterans, fresh-faced newbies, and wars between the stars that can only end poorly are the order of the day? It's gritty, it's dark, there's opportunities for heroism but as many opportunities to doubt your own. We are going to play *Jacob Sander, a grizzled veteran of at least two dozen wars. He's old, even by the measure of the universe in which it's easy enough for humans to live several hundred years – absent violent mishap. Not so old that he's no longer terrifying, mind you. He's seen everything, shot everyone, and now would really just like to be left alone in his modest apartment, living off the remnants of his officer's commission and trying to forget all the things he's seen.* I feel good with that. ### Elements We've got five Elements to work with: > - **Fire** – Fire represents the strength and fury of the Legend. Mighty warriors and ferocious barbarians will have a high Fire. Weak-willed mages and lithe thieves will have low Fire. > - **Craft** – Craft represents magic and the unknown forces that shape the world. Strong-minded mages and pious shaman will have a high Craft. Ignorant gladiators and corrupt charlatans will have a low Craft. > - **Song** – Song represents the presence and charisma of your Legend. A silver-tongued thief and a charming temptress will have a high Song. A repugnant warrior and a vile witch will have a low Song. > - **Granite** – Granite represents the wisdom and knowledge of the Legend. A learned Lorespeaker and a wizened crone will have a high Granite. A feckless thug or a ill-mannered sailor will have a low Granite. > - **Ice** – Ice represents the speed and the agility of your Legend. A nimble archer and a shadowy rogue will have a high Ice. A slow moving Juggernaut and a crippled Seer will have a low Ice. Between the five we get to allocate D10, D8, D6, D4, or 0, which is an interesting distribution of choices. Let's see, assigning the extremes is always the best way to start. Obviously Jacob is still a powerful warrior on the field (otherwise we wouldn't be able to draft them into solving the problem of the week), so we'll give him *Fire* D10. He's a grizzled veteran of more wars that he wants to count, so *Granite* D8 makes good sense. He's not a man who cares what you think of him and would rather you just shut up and got out of the way which sounds exactly like *Song* D0. He's not inclined to magic, psionics, or the belief therein, quite frankly, but that provides a little bit of a bulwark against them: *Craft* D4. Despite his age, he can still get around behind enemy lines and fill them with terror, giving *Ice* D6. | Element | Die | Descrription | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | *Fire* | d10 | A cunning, canny old soldier. | | *Craft* | d4 | Magic? Psi? They don't exist no matter what you heard. | | *Song* | d0 | Abraisive and cynical. | | *Granite* | d8 | Veteran of a dozen brutal wars. | | *Ice* | d6 | Never where you expect him. | ### Trappings It's gear – but more than gear. It's a piece of the Legend and represents part of how they interact with the narrative and express their elemental nature. What I'm telling you is that a Trapping doesn't necessarily have the Elemental association that might be immediately obvious. The example in the text is quite good: > Each Trapping is allocated an Element and a dice value. The Element that is allocated to the trapping is important as it denotes how the Trapping is used. A greatsword allocated Fire will be a weapon of war, whereas a Greatsword allocated Song will be a status symbol which can sway crowds when it is drawn. > > The Trappings should also say something about the setting as well. In the example above ‘a Greatsword’ is dull, boring and non-descript. The Executioner’s Sword from the City State of Chun however, is dripping with potential. Who is the Executioner? Where is Chun? Why does it execute people? How did Ragnar get the sword? We get D4, D6, and D8 to throw in the pile. | Element | Die | Description | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | Granite | d4 | Well-Worn Martian Service Rifle | | Ice | d6 | Partially De-Militarized Cybernetic Implants | | Song | d8 | Sander's Service Tags, worn on a chain | ### Lore Tales and rumors, legends and lore. I admit to a particular soft spot for characters who build their histories or systems in which flashbacks and callbacks to things that happened off-camera are things that can be brought in to affect the current situation. There is a real urge in a lot of RPG players to create characters who have no hooks into history, nothing the GM *"can use against them."* As a result, we see a lot of characters who came out of nothing, want nothing, and are going nowhere – and the players expect to have cool stories told about those characters. Let's build some history. We get D4, D6, D6, D8, and D10 to do it with. | Element | Die | Description | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | Fire | d10 | Killer of the Carcosa Rift | | Song | d8 | Accolade of the Martian High Command | | Craft | d6 | Front-line Against the Haunters of Fomalhaut | | Ice | d4 | Trained from Birth by the Martian Scout Force | | Granite | d6 | The Veteran's Bar "Meatlocker" in Argyre Planitia | I think this might speak for Sander sufficiently. *One of the biggest fights of his life occurred at the Carcosa Rift, where his scout group literally piled corpses, wave after wave, until frontline forces could reach his position. He was recognized by Martian high command for exemplary service to the cause of Sol. He knows that he would've never survived if he hadn't have been a cloned soldier created specifically to bulk up Mars's forces, giving him training from birth as a scout. One of the last major wars was against the inhabitants of Fomalhaut who were rumored to use genetically augmented psykers in their troops, but Sander can neither confirm nor deny any experiences of that nature. After he mustered out, he spent and still spends a fair amount of time in the Meatlocker, a bar where other veterans try to drink away the memory of what they've done.* Hey, that sounds pretty good! And we're done! ## Character Sheet ![[Jacob Sander, Martian Scout (Retired).jpg]] **Name:** Jacob Sander, Veteran Scout of the Martian Forces (Retired) > *A grizzled veteran of at least two dozen wars. He's old, even by the measure of a universe in which it's easy enough for humans to live several hundred years – absent violent mishap. Not so old that he's no longer terrifying, mind you. He's seen everything, shot everyone, and now would really just like to be left alone in his modest apartment, living off the remnants of his officer's commission and trying to forget all the things he's seen.* > > *One of the biggest fights of his life occurred at the Carcosa Rift, where his scout group literally piled corpses, wave after wave, until frontline forces could reach his position. He was recognized by Martian high command for exemplary service to the cause of Sol. He knows that he would've never survived if he hadn't have been a cloned soldier created specifically to bulk up Mars's forces, giving him training from birth as a scout. One of the last major wars was against the inhabitants of Fomalhaut who were rumored to use genetically augmented psykers in their troops, but Sander can neither confirm nor deny any experiences of that nature. After he mustered out, he spent and still spends a fair amount of time in the Meatlocker, a bar where other veterans try to drink away the memory of what they've done.* **Elements** | Element | Die | Descrription | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | *Fire* | d10 | A cunning, canny old soldier. | | *Craft* | d4 | Magic? Psi? They don't exist no matter what you heard. | | *Song* | d0 | Abraisive and cynical. | | *Granite* | d8 | Veteran of a dozen brutal wars. | | *Ice* | d6 | Never where you expect him. | **Trappings** | Element | Die | Description | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | Granite | d4 | Well-Worn Martian Service Rifle | | Ice | d6 | Partially De-Militarized Cybernetic Implants | | Song | d8 | Sander's Service Tags, worn on a chain | **Lore** | Element | Die | Description | | ---- | ---: | ---- | | Fire | d10 | Killer of the Carcosa Rift | | Song | d8 | Accolade of the Martian High Command | | Craft | d6 | Front-line Against the Haunters of Fomalhaut | | Ice | d4 | Trained from Birth by the Martian Scout Force | | Granite | d6 | The Veteran's Bar "Meatlocker" in Argyre Planitia | ## Exunt For my money, the best indicator of whether a character is good or not is whether or not it makes you want to play them immediately – and Jacob Sander makes me want to know what he's story is about, what the next big conflict he has to face is, and how it turns out. There's elements of the Cthulhu mythos, there's elements of the classic gritty old soldier story, there's even hints of cyberpunk. Where does that go? What could you do with that? If you want to know, go pick up ERA (for free, if you'd like; it is Pay What You Want), find a friend, sit down and play to find out. I suppose, theoretically, given the fact that the game is so structured, you might even be able to play it solo – but I wouldn't recommend it. Shit, I think someone from High Command is at the door. I've got to go. Out!